Wrong
Rainbow's hair flew wildly as she slid her bike to a full stop on the sidewalk. Strangely enough, the diner didn't seem too busy; an anomaly for the somewhat popular doughnut stop. But that was good. It would make her search easier. An easy search was a short one and she was friggin' cold.
In a parking space across from the main entrance, a preppy-looking guy leaned against his whit SUV, waving at her. Pale skin, blue hair with a light stripe—yep, that's what that librarian lady described.
She pedaled her bike through the parking lot. "You Shining Armor?"
"Depends," he responded neutrally but with a smirk, idly dropping his hands into his pockets. "Who's asking?"
Oh great. "C'mon, really? I'm looking for Sunny Song. You gonna help me or not?"
"I was joking, sorry," he coughed lightly into his fist, scratching his chin, generally not sounding sorry at all. A breeze blew through the area, only strong enough to move her hair. "I just wanted to ask you a few questions first and..." He trailed off, giving Rainbow a quick glance up and down. His brow furrowed.
This guy was wasting her time and pissing her off all in one shot.
"What're you looking at?" Rainbow crossed her arms in equal parts defiance and cold, as though that would do anything against the breeze that had just cut right through her.
"You're shivering. You alright?" The guy frowned. "Last I checked, this was at least sweater weather—."
"I, you...!" Rainbow tried to think of how to cut him off, mouth twisting at the reminder of her prior carelessness, only to realize that she already did. She rolled with it. "I'm shivering because I'm cold, duh. So unless you're about to turn the sun back up, I'd like it if you'd just hurry up."
Hopefully the old guy from the tomb-shed didn't unwrap her hoodie—that would be hard to explain.
"I just—." His brow furrowed, hands moving, but hesitating, as though they didn't know where to go. Just as she was about to tell him where to shove them, he stuck out his hand. "Right sorry, I'm Shining Armor. What's your name?"
Dash had a thought. She leaned to the side, looking past Shining, trying to get a glance at the vehicle's occupants. The seats seemed empty, and she doubted that anyone had a reason to hide under the window. Unless this "Sunny" person knew she was coming...
Wait, this guy was trying to talk to Dash. He needed something from her, so he wouldn't be leaving any time soon. Dash was in control.
Realizing that Shining didn't relent, she quickly grasped his hand, shook once, and let go. "Yeah, sure, good talk. Think we can continue inside? That's where Sunny is, right?" She didn't wait for him to respond, as she started walking her bike to the entrance.
"Yeah, but—hey, you...!" Dash could have sworn she heard him growl as she rolled up to the bike rack. To his credit, she heard him mostly catch up before she stepped all the way through the door.
Rainbow Dash briskly marched across the checkered floor, glancing around the diner. She scanned for any sign of her quarry. Red hair, large book-sized objects, anything.
A lone stranger.
A couple of couples.
Purple on purple—.
"Twilight!" She came back early! Twilight was here! They were gonna get this problem solved in no time, now! Rainbow sprinted the short distance to the booth. Twilight promptly flinched and pulled back, but ha, Rainbow Dash had more control than Twilight thought! Honestly, Twi should stop underestimating her.
"Awesome, I'm glad you're here!" Dash's laughed as her sneakers squeaked in response to her abrupt stop. Twilight played with her glasses—huh, those are new—as Dash leaned in.
"U-uhm—?"
"Somebody stole Sunset's journal," Dash started lowly, glancing suspiciously around once more, quickly noting another occupant in Twilight's booth. "I don't know why, but—!"
Dash's throat closed, her mouth speaking gibberish in silence, as her gaze was unwavering locked on the face of the girl in front of her. And the girl stared back. The girl in green blanket stared with her eyes in her face on her head, her hair—!
This girl was Sunny? No, she was her but wrong. Yes, wrong. They were all wrong.
Completely wrong.
She was wrong, the old man was wrong, Watermelody was wrong. They were as wrong as Rainbow Dash's eyes were wide—as wrong as her heart was frozen, yet pounding. They were as wrong as the bile in Dash's throat was strong.
So horribly and terrifyingly wrong.
The girl. Caked in makeup which may as well have been clay, the ugly pallor hinting at what might have been. She might not have known makeup, but no, Rainbow Dash knew her friend's face. She knew what was and what still should have been.
But they didn't know. They couldn't have known that that thing staring at her with growing eyes, eyes unnaturally open, slack jawed, mouth hanging—
'Unnaturally closed, can still see her crying, but she's smiling—she's smiling, why is she smiling, why did they make her smile, she shouldn't be smiling! Wasn't, didn't, Isn't, too fake, can't be, not real, not real—!'
—slowly, slowly, but faster than Dash ever would have wanted, the girl—the thing—pulled itself hand-over-hand towards her, dragging itself across the cushion of the booth. Fire hair, amber skin, blue eyes, blue dress—blue dress?—Dash wanted to run keep running don't stop because it was wronger than she could have possibly imagined.
It looked nothing like Sunset Shimmer.
It looked exactly like Sunset's corpse.
"T-Twil...!" Rainbow gasped, but did she? Her mouth moved but she couldn't hear herself, she couldn't hear anything other than the blood rushing, heart pounding, can't see, can't hear, can't breathe, not real, wrong.
Something touched her back. Frantically, blindly, she shot her hand back and felt something cool, smooth—the countertop? When did she back up? Why was Sunset—'not Sunset, not real!'—still getting closer, moving, why—?
"Sunny? Do you, uh, need...?" Twilight, that was Twilight. Twilight Sparkle, Princess Twilight Sparkle, her friend—her friend!
"T-Twi-light," Dash tried, strangled by terror.
"W-wha? How do you...?"
"H-help... can't...!" Rainbow Dash tried to find Twilight in the sea of blur and colors and wrongness but she couldn't move, couldn't see. All she could see was red and gold and green and blue—
blue?—and arms and legs. Crouching, standing, and Dash was blind, blind to it all until the body was right on top of her, lunging—!
"Sunny!"
Impact, hard, firm, and cold against Rainbow's chest, her arms, her hands pinned between the corpse and herself. Blocked by the barrier of a cool body, back pressed against the countertop, shoulders trapped in vice of icy fingers. Hunched over, it looked up, searching Dash's face, but all the athlete could see was red-and-gold hair, amber-but-wrong skin, blue eyes, green cloak, blue dress, blue dress—that dress—?!
With a raspy cry, Rainbow Dash's arms burst into to action and shoved. A loud thud and a rattling of dishes rang out in the diner.
"Sunny!"
"Hey!"
Suddenly, the world broke into fragments of unimpeded focus.
It should have caught its balance, but it didn't. Momentum carried it back-first into the edge of the table it came from, from which it crumpled to the ground. Did she do that? She didn't mean to—but Twilight was already moving in to—.
That "Shining Armor" guy was rushing over, rushing in. Both of his hands were loose, but Armor's shoulders clearly read aggression.
'Fight? This is a fight!' No ring and no judge. Defeat is not an option—.
Can Twilight fight? No, she could barely control her legs in a soccer match, let alone a fight.
'Gotta let Twilight do her thing!' was the first coherent thought that made its order known.
Trusting Twilight to watch her back, Dash stepped between Shining Armor and the princess, instinctively stabilizing her stance—.
"Oh gosh, Sunny, are you okay?"
What?
She turned and caught glimpse of Twilight helping it to sit upright when she felt grip and force pulling on her shoulder—.
'Focus, Dash, focus!' Following reflex, she let her arm strike out at her attacker.
"Dammit, kid, what's your problem?!" Shining hissed as he accepted a hard wrist to the cheek, but was completely unimpeded. With a step and a hard pull, Rainbow Dash found herself displaced, and the wrong side of Twilight and the guy who was... was facing her, but...
...standing between her and Twilight?
Dash could see her, behind Shining's legs. Dash thought to call out to her but Twilight was completely unconcerned. No, Twilight seemed more concerned with Sunset—no, Sunset's body—no, whatever was slouched there, sprawled there, cloak or blanket unable to hide what was unmistakably that dress, staring at her—.
Oh gosh it was staring at her with Sunset's eyes, her face, but it was a face that Rainbow had seen once before and had wished to never see again. Wide eyes filled with hurt, brow and lips twisted with betrayal, mouth open with emotion but lacking the words to express it, cheeks wet on the plain tiles of the hall, soundlessly crying out, looking for somebody, anybody to help her, save her, 'why didn't I—!'
"Rainb-boww...?"
Paralysis in shaking, Rainbow Dash closed her eyes tight. 'No way, no way, not real, take a breath.' In a span of three seconds, Dash took as many heaving breaths. Upon the third she tore her eyes open, knowing that she was having another nightmare.
But why did Sunset's wounded gaze feel so real?
"I..." Rainbow wheezed, only faintly noting other voices around her.
"...are they fighting, mom?"
"...ainbow Dash? Like, from...?"
"...wild. Wait till they see...!"
All eyes were on her. Her eyes were on her, and she couldn't look away. A hundred pairs of barbs digging into her back, but just one dragging out her heart, her lungs, her painful thoughts and memories that she had only just finally...!
Too many noises, she couldn't think. People talking, dog barking, chairs moving, eyes digging, wind howling, Twilight crying, everybody's crying, Sunset's crying.
Too many.
Too much.
"I-I can't."
Shining Armor took a step forward. "Kid, you'd better start—."
"I-bu-I can't, I—Sunset, please. Sorry, I-I can't...!" With some small amount of balance, Rainbow Dash spun on her heels, stumbled into two chairs, brushed passed a few bystanders who quickly gave way, and crashed out of the door.
The rush of frigid air did little to ground her as Dash yanked her bicycle out of the rack. All of her prior grace was lost to panic as she threw herself onto her bike, only to have her momentum carry her off the other side of the seat. Before should could try again, a pale hand had latched onto the bike.
She gave the bike a hard tug, to no avail. "L-let go, let me go!"
"No. We need to talk." Shining Armor was clearly not happy, but Dash was not having it. With both hands and her whole body, she pulled, she twisted, she wrenched the bike hard, repeatedly, dragging Shining Armor further from the door foot by foot.
"No! I don't know how you, what you did to—gah!" Rainbow deftly swung her arm to deflect the rolled up bundle that Shining Armor threw at her. As it drifted harmlessly away, the bicycle was roughly torn from her distracted grip. Dragging the bike back to the rack and slamming it back in place, Shining Armor rounded on Dash, stopping a scant stride away, arms crossed and a sharp line on his brow.
"Put on that jacket, because we need to talk now."
"No!" Dash was shouting, she must be heard. "I don't even know you! What are you doing here? Why is Twilight here? Why were you—both you defending Su-th-that—?"
"'Sunset?'" he cut in. "As in Sunset Shimmer. That's what you were going to say, right? That wasn't—that couldn't be Sunset."
"My ass 'that wasn't Sunset'! What do you want with her—with her body, huh? Why is Twilight—?"
"You know how insane you sound right now?" His shoulders rose and jaw clenched as he glared even harder, but she could care less if she was getting under his skin. "You're Rainbow Dash, right? One of her 'besties'?" The way he said that ground on her like she ground her teeth. "You should know better than anyone else that Sunset Shimmer is dead—."
"Shut up!" She felt her balance shift to the balls of her feet before she stopped herself. "Sh-just shut up and answer me! Why are you and—?"
"No!" Shining barked, uncrossing his arms as he bristled. "No, I'm done. You answer my questions now." She wouldn't have a bike, but Dash was still pretty sure that she might be able outmaneuver him if things got nasty. "You seem pretty damn sure that's Sunset Shimmer, huh?" Lightning was coursing through her veins, she couldn't stop shaking. "So, what, that handicap you just slammed against a table was a, a vampire or something? You have any idea how damn retarded that sounds?!"
"Stop lying to me!" The entire world was shouting, screaming, rushing too loud and she needed to be louder. "You're the one with her body! And don't!" she screamed over him even as he was raising his voice, "don't you even try and tell me this is just some lookalike. We both know that—that you and Twilight—," why would she do this? "—that you took Sunset's... that Twilight... she's the only who who could...!" Why would Twilight do this? Was this some kind of punishment? Who was she—?
"What do you even mean by—you know what? Fine. Fine! If you won't answer me then I know a few other—."
"If that's not Sunset," Rainbow rasped raggedly over him, "then why is she wearing that dress, huh? That's the same dress she was buried in—I watched! So tell me how the hell that works!" He visibly faltered, eyes widening just a fraction, but Dash noticed. "Got nothing, huh? Twilight didn't even tell you? She was there too, you know. Or maybe you didn't even think about that, you stupid—?"
"S... what?" Shining started, so quiet that his was easily overshadowed by Rainbow's voice. "Wait, wait!" he rallied. "Back up, what do you mean 'Twilight was'—wait, no! Don't you even try tha-that shit with me."
'The hell is up with this guy?'
"Twilight doesn't even know you, I can tell. So now, you're trying to tell me that she's some kind of-of mad scientist who, what?" He was shaking now, his eyes everywhere, hands flexing, erratic. "And-and two girls look good in the same thing, and well shit I guess that makes zombies reasonable? They buy the same dime-a-dozen, fifty-dollar dress—?!"
'How dare he—'
"I watched Rarity make that dress you fucki—!" caught off-guard by her own curse, she recoiled and choked on her own saliva. But even as she did, she did not dare avert her eyes—she didn't even blink—as she coughed her lungs out, trying and failing to talk again, to verbally tear him apart.
But he stopped talking. He was staring at her, glaring at her, working his jaw, flapping, but quiet. His hands opened and closed, pursuing each movement with absolute confidence before being abruptly aborted. In a sudden, rough gesture, Shining threw his fingers into his hairline, raking roughly. He distanced himself, turning, pacing, breathing harder and harder.
He was distracted.
Maybe...
Dash took subtle steps towards the bike rack. If she could get her wheels, she was home free. If she didn't... well, it would take a little more effort, and Dash'd have to hope that he didn't find the address her mom put on the bottom of the seat, darn it. Shining was muttering under his breath. Four more paces. She froze, ready to run, as he again turned towards her. But he kept turning, hands deep into his hair with his wild eyes to the dim-and-darkening sky. Just a couple more steps.
"Okay," he started shakily, before clearing his voice. He tried again, his voice closer to tamed. "Okay, just." He swallowed. "I..." Shining took a breath. "...I believe—hypothetically if I..."
What.
"W-what?" Dash saw him glance at the bike, before settling his gaze back on her. He made no move to intercept.
"Damn—darn it, quiet down a little, I..." What the heck was this guy playing at? Pretending to be worried? People don't just swing like that, this was bait. "Just... how... what does Twilight..." The opening of the diner door caught his attention.
Dash's magenta eyes met blue and she froze.
Her mind was flying, swirling, swept up in a maelstrom fed by her thoughts. She was falling apart, she could feel it, but she didn't know what to do. She didn't know if it was the guilt, the terror, the betrayal, the mind-splitting headache from all of her crying and screaming, or the suddenness of it all. All that she knew was that it was too much. Dash needed answers.
"I-I can't take this," she found herself gasping. "I can't."
But right now, she needed to leave.
The floor was cold.
And, somehow, the floor was familiar. It wasn't how she got there, not exactly, but just being there almost reminded her of something. Almost like a word she knew the definition of but didn't quite know how to spell. And seeing that girl with the rainbow hair, the same girl that was in that picture...
That was familiar, too.
Sunset needed to talk to her.
"Sunny, are you okay? Please, say something!"
Sunny blinked. Right, Twilight was here. Inhale. "'m ffine..." Somehow and at some point, a few people that she didn't know around her gathered around her, standing or crouching over her. Somewhat disoriented, she twisted her head until she was facing her friend. "...I'mm fine." Sunny smiled in a way that she hoped was reassuring.
"A-are you sure?" Sunny followed Twilight's hand as it kept meeting, lifting off of, and again lightly setting onto her shoulder. Her smile turned a bit more genuine. "You, uh, you hit the table pretty hard. I-I didn't know if... uh..."
Inhale. "I'm n-no worshe thann I was th-th-this mornn'." Twilight's always so nice to her. "But I nneed to taalk to h-her." Exhale.
"W-what? But she just..." All that stress couldn't be good for Twilight's face.
"Yo," a nearby young man interrupted, worry in his posture. "You sure you're alright?" He turned his gaze to Twilight, who twitched at the attention. "Your friend seems kind of, uh..."
Ah.
"Oh, n-no. I mean, yes!" Twilight corrected, maybe too loudly. Not so loud that the shouting outside couldn't be heard, though. "She, uh," Twilight fidgeted with her glasses, taking them off and looking away, "this is just how she's been since, uh, her... accident."
Sunny didn't know how to feel about the pitying gazes that she received. It wasn't like she actually deserved those or anything, it just was what it was.
In. "I'm f-fine—."
"What's that youngin's problem, anyway?" Another fellow from the small gathering. "Why, I've got half a mind to call the police!"
What? "N-nno!" she wheezed. They couldn't take her away before Sunny got a chance to talk to her! She opened her mouth, remembered to take in air, then tried again, waving her hands in some approximation of a 'hold on' gesture. "S-she's jusht..." C'mon, girl, think—, "...scared. Mm. I l-look like someb-body she used to knoww."
"Well," the speaker drawled, "that still don't give her nowhere near the right, though."
"But, you know, you do seem kinda familiar—oh! Would you happen to be related to Sunset Shimmer?" A couple of surprised faces turned towards the speaker before reconsidering the girl on the ground.
Sunny turned her head to directly face the recent speaker. Yet, despite scrutinizing his face, she didn't get any kind of familiar feeling.
Meanwhile, he was wilting beneath her gaze. "U-uh... sorry maybe I shouldn't have said anything."
Inhale. "D-did you know S-S-Sunshet Shimmerr?" Out.
"H-huh?" He shook himself out of something. "Oh, no no. I've never seen her in person, but my little brother went to school with her." He sighed, frowning, lightly crossing his arms. "That, and she's become a little infamous lately. I mean, the news' been trying not to refer to her directly by name or picture, but she was too popular to keep anonymous for more than a day."
Sunset's face twitched. For some reason, she didn't want to be in here anymore.
Inhale. "T-thanks, guysh." She turned to her friend. "I n-need to tahlk with-th her. Hhelp me?"
"What? No!" Twilight carefully moved until she was kneeling right in front of her, mindful of Sunny's legs. "Sunny, she's dangerous!"
'Dangerous'? That didn't sound right. But why would she be—ah.
In. "J-just a p-p-push. She didn't knoww. Didn't even hurrt!" Sunny swung her arms up and slightly over until her hands were resting on Twilight's arms. "Hhelp me, pleashe?" Out.
Twilight was clearly conflicted. 'Twilight, I like how you want to help me, but darn it can you please just help me in the way that I want right now?' Sunny put on her best smile. Hopefully it didn't seem to desperate. She really needed a mirror, so that she knew what these faces she made actually looked like.
"I... okay, but only because Shiny's there." Yes! Twilight lightly grasped her forearms and pulled as she rose, helping Sunset to her feet. After some shifting around, Twilight was in a more comfortable position to help keep Sunny upright.
"So, uh, are you girls good good, or...?"
"Oh yes, we're g-uh, we're good." Twilight almost moved her hand away, but apparently reconsidered. "The, uh, the other person out there is actually an officer, so we'll be fine."
"Well that's somethin', huh? Y'all be careful then."
"Uh, sure." Twilight and Sunny stepped passed the small group, Twilight doing her best to weather the stares of the few other patrons, as they awkwardly staggered in tandem their way to the front. The guy with the apron was already there, leaning on the glass with phone idly in hand. "Hey, uh, Mister Joe?"
The older gentlemen with the apron regarded them with a raised brow. "Hey Twilight," he grunted in his gruff voice and inner-city accent. "You guys alright?" That sounded normal but...
'Why is he looking at me like that?' His face spoke some kind of suspicion. Not in hostility but... something.
"Yeah, uh, we're fine. We'll uh," she fidgeted in place, "we'll be right back, I promise."
"Gotcha, Twilight," He nodded, "do what you gotta do. Interest charges hourly."
"What? Oh, heh, yeah." Twilight was just staring passed the door now, watching Shining Armor pace. It seemed like the yelling had stopped for now. "Hopefully, we won't take that long..."
Ah. Twilight was stalling.
Sunny inhaled.
Twilight's eyes snapped to Sunny before she could say anything. Nodding and taking a stabilizing breath of her own, Twilight pushed open the door with a shoulder, and she and Sunny stumbled through.
'Wow, it's cold out here.' Her vision shook as Twilight shivered in agreement. Twilight was doing wonders to keep her warm, at least.
Shining Armor was looking at Sunny, examining her, checking her for something. Rainbow wasn't doing any of that. Rainbow was just staring.
Sunny tried and failed to fill already full lungs. "H-heyyy..." she wheezed out, before preemptively taking in another lungful of cold air.
No response.
"Go back inside, Twily," Shining said lowly, but not unkindly. His attention turned back to the rainbow one.
"But, uh," Twilight cleared her throat awkwardly, "Sunny needs to talk to her, I think?"
Sunny was about as sure as Twilight in that moment. 'What do I say?' Sunny stared back at magenta eyes, unsure of how to proceed, but knowing that she didn't have much time to figure out.
"C'mon, then, Twily. You don't need to hear this."
"Ah, but..."
Might as well just go for it.
"Sso, c-can we taalk? Did you kn-know Sunshet—?"
"I-I can't," the shivering girl stuttered unevenly, "take this. I can't." She was wheezing, heaving air now. That couldn't be healthy.
Sunny quickly took air. "Nnonono i-ish ok-k-kay!" She raised her arm in some kind of gesture that definitely wasn't turning out the way she wanted. Inhale. "Wwe can tallk!" Sunny's voice was still little more than a groan than anything, punctuated by hoarse exhales and she hated it.
"N-no, I'm sorry I need to go I need to go." The other girl shuffled just a bit towards her, but more towards the building. "I'm sorry, I... Sunset, I'm sorry, I need...!"
What started as one step turned into a stumble as her foot caught a discarded jacket—'Wasn't that Shining's?'—which then turned into a lunge for her bike which was quickly freed from the rack—'Wait no she's really fast on that—!'
Sunny threw her arms forward and lurched in her attempt to lunge and grab at least some part of the bike, but forgetting that one needed to move their legs in order to do so. The way the hands on her body tried and failed to secure a solid grip, as well as the way her momentum shifted unexpectedly, told her that she nearly took Twilight with her, too. At some point, Shining got close enough to catch Twilight, thank goodness.
"S-Sunny, no! Oh no, I'm so sorry!"
Before she could thank Shining Armor, she realized she was on the ground. Twisting to face the rainbow haired girl again, Sunny sighed breathlessly as said girl had already seated herself upon the bike and was already several paces away. She'd never stop her now.
But the not-so-stranger just looked down at her, pathetically, like somehow Sunset was the one who just dropped her.
"Sun-Sunset, I..." she sniffed deeply, wetly, "I'm... forgive me, please please please—!" She slammed her eyes shut, but only for as long as it took to drag her sleeve across her face. But she wasn't looking at Sunny anymore. She was just looking over her shoulder. "Twilight, why... why did you bring Sunset back?"
Huh? Ah. The warmth that just appeared behind her must be Twilight.
"Twi, I, I thought—why would you do that? I," she sniffed again, "I thought we were friends."
Sunny looked at Twilight, certain that her look of absolute confusion was obvious. Twilight looked back, glanced really, before glaring at the rainbow one with so much fire that somehow felt familiar in a bad, but also so right way.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," she spoke, voice shaking, but Sunny couldn't tell if it was her nerves or the cold, or if she was just that mad. "I've never seen you a day in my life. I don't know who this, uh, 'Sunset' is. Or you for that matter. I'm not your friend. And I don't think I'd want to be." Twilight paused, and Sunny couldn't blame her. Rainbow's expression was one that could stop her, too. Confusion? Pain? Some mixture probably.
"Twilight, what? I-I don't get it..." the girl glanced at everything but her eyes. She made no move closer, but also none further away. "What are you saying, Twi? I helped you—."
"Don't," Twilight cut in, "call me 'Twi'." Warm arms embraced Sunny, and something warm pressed against the back of her head. "Just go away." Twilight's tired voice was muffled, but Sunny could hear her. "Just leave us alone."
Judging by Rainbow's utterly confused and hurt expression, she heard Twilight, too.
"I don't... I..." She worked her mouth silently, before meeting Sunny's gaze again.
Maybe this was her chance. Twilight wouldn't like it.
Sorry, Twilight.
Inhale.
"P-pleashe don't go." Their eyes were locked, but the girl wasn't biting. C'mon, how could she get her to stay? "I'lll be your f-f-friendd." She felt Twilight's arms tighten.
Sorrow welled on both Sunny's and the strange girl's faces as she abruptly drove her bike partway across the lot.
But then she suddenly stopped.
Was she coming back?
The rainbow girl pulled her smartphone out of her pocket, pointing the back of her blue case towards Sunny. This hadn't occurred for more than a moment before Shining Armor was crouching between her and the girl.
After another couple of moments, the girl rolled away from the diner, out of the parking lot, and down a slowly dimming street.
Things were still and silent and cold.
Inhale. "Wwhat jusht happened?" Exhale.
A beat.
Twilight started talking, but stopped when Shining had already started speaking, his quiet deadpan neatly cutting through the cool air.
"I think you just got rejected."
"Shiny..."
"Just calling it how I saw it."
"Shiny, stop." Twilight didn't move from her spot.
"Okay, sorry Twily."
Inhale. "I jusht wwanted to ask her aboutt Shunshet..." The rest of her breath left her in a sad sigh.
"Sunset. Like Sunset Shimmer?" Twilight asked. Sunny nodded, knowing that Twilight would feel it. More importantly, she could see Shining Armor's eyes slowly widen as his face fell to dread. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but. Uh. Isn't she the one that the news and bloggers are talking about? The one who died?"
Sunset took a breath, but Shining Armor didn't need that kind of preparation. "Mhm, that's her. But enough about that, huh? This day's sad enough already. Uh here," Shining pulled his wallet out from his back pocket, tapping one of Twilight's hands with it until she grabbed it, "go ahead and pay Joe before he sends some muscle to collect. And a couple boxes of donuts. And Spike, I guess."
"Be nice."
"Am I ever not?" Twilight didn't answer. She also didn't un-burrow herself from Sunny's back. "Twily..."
"I'm going." Sunny felt her nod and her arms loosen, before pulling away entirely. "I'll, uh, be right back.
"Sure. Make sure you give him a good tip." Sunny heard the door open and close behind her, but she was too busy staring at Shining Armor who was, in turn, staring at her.
Inhale—.
"Did you know her?"
Oh? That's another tricky one. "I th-think sho." Sunset's head rolled from one shoulder to the other in thought. "Sh-she seeemed really f-f-familiar. Whenn she firsht w-walked in. But afterr..." Sunny shook her head, forlorn. "I didn't re-recognize her at alll."
Shining slowly nodded, regarding her. After another moment of mutual staring, he rose to his feet, offering a hand.
"C'mon, let's get in the car."
In. "Oh. Y-y-you'll help me?" Out.
"No, I just want to see if somebody taught you how to shake yet."
She looked up in confusion. He sighed.
"Yes, just take my hand."
In. "Okhay." She took his hand, and he firmly but gently lifted her up to her feet. He quickly established their balance in a practiced stance, but... "W-woww," she quietly wheezed, "you're k-kinda cold."
"Hm... I don't think I like hearing that from a corpse."
In. "I wwant Twi-light to c-c-carry me."
"And I don't want you anywhere near Twilight."
Sunny blinked.
"...O-oh..." Out.
Shining Armor opened the front passenger door and carefully lifted Sunny into the seat, the seatbelt sliding in place with a click.
In. "Shee's g-g-g-going to ffind out who I am. Tw-Twilight's shmart." Out.
"Just don't tell Twilight," was his firm reply. "Don't 'confirm' it, don't imply it; just don't."
In. "D-d-do you believe mme then?" Out.
He stoically regarded her again for a just moment, before gently shutting the passenger-side door. Once again, she was alone. Alone in a cold, little box—.
'Don't think about that don't think about that don't think about that...'
In an attempt to distract herself, she practiced her foot movements by idly kicking around a silver thermos, whose only crime was to be left in the foot-space. 'I wonder how long it was here.' That's it, just keep the memory away. 'Is it still lonely?' Thankfully, it wasn't long before the driver door opened and Shining Armor threw himself into the driver's seat, slamming the door shut with car-shaking force.
He started the car and twisted some knobs. Besides the whirring of the arcane mechanism of an 'automobile', there was silence.
"No," he suddenly said, glancing at her from the corner of his eye,"but I can't disprove it. So I'll play along. For now."
Her mouth began moving but stopped. Embarrassed at again trying to speak and breathe in the wrong order, she tried again. "S-so you'll hhelp me?" Sunny tried to keep her volume low in case she could still somehow choke on air, but her excitement was palpable.
He let out an exasperated sigh, raking his fingers through his hair, looking notably more tired than a few minutes ago. "Let's say I did," he said, "hypothetically," he further emphasized after watching Sunny try and fail to clap her hands in glee. "If I did help you, what, give you our info on yourself?" She nodded happily, probably a little too excited. "Right. What would you even do with that?"
Sunny nodded in thought, still smiling. 'What could I do with that?' Get a job and feed herself? Ha. In the end that knowledge is pretty useless, but it meant something to her. That's all that mattered.
She just wanted back the one thing she knew she had, she supposed. She just wanted to know.
In. "N-nothing, I guessh." She half exhaled. "I w-want to feeel a little more l-l-like me. I think."
"Hmm." He didn't seem to be so good at talking—no, conversation—anymore. Why was that? "Do you have a home? Where do I drop you off?"
In. "Th-the library'sh f-fine." Out.
He raised an incredulous brow. "The library closes at night, you know."
What—public facilities close around sundown, food places take out trash before closing—oh.
Darn.
In. "I donn't kn-know." Out.
"Mhm." A beat. "So you won't tell Twilight, right? I don't think she can handle that kind of, uh," he cleared his throat, "implication right now."
In. "But laterr?" Sunny couldn't stop the smirk at the way his face twisted. She shouldn't have had fun doing that. She even felt a little guilty.
"Sunny..." he warned.
In. "S-S-Shining." Out.
She was still gonna, though.
"If you won't cooperate, then I won't either."
Okay, in moderation then.
In. "Okay." Out.
"Good." Another quiet moment, notably more awkward than most others today. "That's a nice dress." Wow, she didn't know compliments could sound so bland.
Sunny nodded with a smile.
"Where'd you get it?"
Sunny looked down at the dress, pinching and toying with the thin, blue fabric. If she looked closely, it was a little dirtier than when she first looked down at it. 'I've been on the ground too much.'
She inhaled, but mid-breath, she got an idea.
"I'll tr-rade." He raised a brow in question, turning his face slightly to almost properly face her. "I w-woke up with this dressh. Now you tell m-me shomethingg."
"You already told me, though." Shining Armor went back to staring out of his windshield.
Sunny allowed herself a small smile, one she assumed a disappointed parent would wear. She figured he wouldn't bite, but answers don't come without asking questions.
Silence.
"You..." Shining paused, then tried again. "...Sunset Shimmer doesn't have any known family."
Sunset didn't realize she was facing him until she felt her neck resist her head's movement. She opened her mouth again, but Shining Armor pressed a button, causing the sound of some kind of mechanism shifting throughout the car. Before she could ask what that was, the door behind Shining's opened.
"Sorry I'm late," Twilight groaned as she climbed into the car and dropped herself into the seat, gently setting down her bag, two small cardboard boxes, and Shining Armor's jacket. "I was, uh, talking to some people in the diner. Oh, here's your wallet, Shiny."
Shining reached over his shoulder, letting Twilight guide his wallet into his waiting hand. "Did anyone give you any trouble?"
"No." Twilight sagged into her seat, yawning into a lazy hand and wiping the errant tears that the action squeezed out. "They were worried, I think. It's alright, though. Oh, Joe gave you a box of donuts for free."
"Really now?"
"Mhm. Said that it was some kind of, uh, 'Officer-Under-Duress-on-His-Day-Off Two-for-One Discount'." Twilight giggled, bringing genuine grins to both Sunny and Shining's face. "He didn't even laugh until after he said it."
"Well that's nice of him. Got the receipt?"
"It's in your wallet."
"Thanks, Twily." He dropped his wallet into a cup-holder. "How're you feeling?"
"W-well, uh..." Twilight took off her glasses, fiddling with the arms. "Um, not gonna lie, I'm feeling pretty dead."
In. "I hearr ya'." Sunny's exhale came in bursts. She tried not to give sound to the chuckles that Shining's expression brought forth.
"It was a pretty crazy day," Shining nodded, decidedly not facing either of the girls. "Go ahead and take a nap, sis. You'll be home soon.
"But what about Sunny? Shouldn't we drop her off first? And Sunny, how are you? That was a lot that just happened. Are, uh, you in any pain?" With each question, she leaned further and further towards, and eventually into, the front seats.
"Seat-belt, Twily."
"A-ah!" She quickly brought herself back and buckled up.
Sunny inhaled, but Shining again cut her off.
"We'll be dropping Sunny off last, actually." He put the car into drive and easily pulled out of the parking spot. "I've got to talk about some stuff with her anyway. Work stuff."
"Annd th-thanksh, Twilight." She twisted her head, adjusting her shoulders when her neck alone couldn't give her the view she wanted. "Ph-physic-ally, I'm fine. F-fine enough, anywayy" Sunny grinned. "Yyou helped with th-the resht."
Twilight blushed. "A-ah, well I didn't do much..."
Sunny slowly nodded, breathing in. "Y-you're shcary when you're mmad." Out. She really was, too. That wasn't an expression that she wanted to see again. Sunny was just glad it wasn't pointed at her this time.
"W-what? No!"
"She's right," Shining agreed with a sagely nod. "Very fierce. Like fire."
"Shiny!"
"You should've seen her when I accidentally stacked her notes out of order—."
"Shiny, stop!"
"Ow—Twilight!" The car slightly swerved and lurched. "I thought you were tired—ah! Mercy! I'll call the police!"
As the car rolled away from the diner and gradually warmed up, Sunny smiled. She liked these moments, she decided. Sunny hoped that she could be involved in more of them in the future. The unexpected meeting with the rainbow haired one didn't work out, but it wasn't the end of the world.
Besides, it's not like Sunny ruined her first impression; the rainbow girl did that all by herself. But if they were as close as they looked in that photograph, then she was certain that good old living Sunset would have forgiven her for a simple misunderstanding.
Probably.
Sunny chose not to dwell on why that thought felt like it could've been wrong.
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Nice to see a new chapter.
I'm very disappointed with Shining in these past couple chapters, honestly. There's a point at which protectiveness becomes OVERprotectiveness, and he seems to have passed that a long time ago. You can't be right there 24/7/365 for the rest of her life, Shining, how is she supposed to learn to handle things if you won't let her experience life?
Now maybe I'm overreacting due to this being a really weird situation, but if this is how he treats her all the time, she'll never be able to handle the unexpected.
Man Rainbow's thick... or emotionally distraught to think clearly. The craziness of the meeting was better than I could've imagined.
9892320
Yeah, but it came back.
No mention of Rainbow finding all of the stuff that was buried in the coffin? I figured that would come up with the dress
Nice chapter, guessing rainbow took the photo to show the others, so I can assume that at least one will be hopeful that its really her, probably flutters, but at the same time they will be confused and scared as all hell, would be bad if the princess came back now wouldn't it?
9595681
That’s exactly what I was wondering actually. If it is, it would kind make certain things and actions in the recent chapters more clear/ understandable. But even if it isn’t, I’m still enjoying the heck out of this story! Quite the mystery.
9628443
What do you mean they jumped?
"I'll call the police!"
Shining:" I am the police!"
Edit: Oops my bad thought Twilight said that. Still funny though
Will we get some more info on how they and the school treated Sunset?
Did they ''just'' freeze her out socially or did they go further?
Will be interesting to see the rest of Sunset's old friends and their thoughts about Sunset resurrection.
Man, Dash did not handle that well. And really, I can't blame her. What a difficult situation.
I absolutely love the fact that Sunset will have gut reactions to minor things she sees or hears without really knowing why. It's done well enough for the reader, to speculate on the connection of feeling to what caused it, but subtle enough to not have it not be obvious.
I think this is my favorite one so far
["I mean, the news' been trying not to refer to her directly by name or picture, but she was too popular to keep anonymous for more than a day."
Sunset's face twitched. For some reason, she didn't want to be in here anymore." ]
An unknown negative reaction from Sunset, following a sentence that includes the word "anonymous"
Damn, that is good writing.
Gah. I am pretty much annoyed by the misunderstandings that could have been avoided. Those girls for some reason put that stupid journal into the coffin, and now they can't contact P. Twilight. And now since Rainbow Dash confused both Twilight's with each other the misinformation would go even further.
You've got a knack for great chapter titles, Duck. One word that sums up not only what happened in this chapter, but pretty much the entire story up until this point.
Making Dash the focal point of this chapter was a compelling choice. She's in the anger stage of grief for sure, trying to find out who killed Sunset, when all of this happens. Mistaking Sci-Twi for Princess Twi and everything with Shining is just mere sprinkles on top of...
This entire sequence was gut-wrenching, in the literal sense. It's just so vivid and harrowing and real. Every second of Dash's reaction was conveyed so intimately, it was almost painfully visceral. The panic and disgust and fear and denial... The only words I feel are suitable to describe my gut response are one-word expletives.
And the fact that Dash took a picture before fleeing... I'm guessing the rest of the Rainbooms are going to find out. Probably immediately. This just keeps getting better and better, even as you twist the knife in (for both me and Sunset).
Good on Shining for still trying to help, despite his (completely rational and understandable) reservations, skepticism, and police instincts telling him not to. I'm a bit apprehensive to see where he takes her though... I hope it's not the station, or the hospital, or anywhere official. :/
Speaking of Shining, him telling Sunset to stay away from Twilight was tough to read, even if I can't exactly blame him for doing so. Just another heartbreak for Sunset after finally finding her first new friend in this strange new reality.
These lines make me think that Sunset was homeless and/or going hungry before she leapt. :(
She's starting to remember... It's at the subconscious level right now, but it's still a start. That makes me both excited for the rest of the chapters... and dreading them.
10698065
Plus it will hurt twilight considering this one doesn't have friends or anyone to help her with that and her brother is an idiot that doesn't know her beyond she is smart. He grew up and moved on and mostly forgot her. He needs to really talk with her.